There were times early this season that the Suns reserves would score a lot of points simply because they were playing out lopsided losses.

The Suns reserves actually scored more during the team's 12-19 stumble than its 18-8 rumble into contention. The Suns did not need the best bench in the NBA to succeed. Its usual starting unit, before Grant Hill's knee surgery, had outscored opponents by more than any five-man unit in the NBA has this season.

They simply needed the bench to keep pace, something it did well to help turn around the season before slamming the gas these past two games to overtake the starters. After scoring 58 in Saturday's win over the Lakers, the Suns bench set a season high with 66 points in Monday's win against Minnesota.

When the all-reserve crew of Sebastian Telfair, Michael Redd, Josh Childress, Markieff Morris and Robin Lopez have played together, the Suns have outscored teams by 26 in those 96 minutes. It does not match the rate that the original starting five has outscored teams, but these subs play at a faster pace by 4.6 possessions per 48 minutes.

There's no doubt that the bench has really started to play hard ever since the all star break. Guys like Telfair and Redd really looked lost in the lineup in the beginning of the season, but have really started to find a role on the team and have embraced it and are producing big.